Hundreds call for ramp to re open

The agency says there are indications the roading network may work better with the ramp kept closed, although left as an emergency exit from the tunnel. Photo / File

Transport officials have been swamped with hundreds of public submissions demanding that a blocked central Auckland motorway access point be re-opened.

The Government's Transport Agency and Auckland Transport are wading through more than 500 submissions as they decide deciding whether to re-open the Wellington St entry ramp to the Northern Motorway, after what was supposed to be a temporary closure.

It was shut while the agency was building the Victoria Park tunnel and widening the motorway around St Marys Bay to the harbour bridge for $391 million, including several million dollars for upgrading the ramp, immediately south of the tunnel.

The agency says there are indications the roading network may work better with the ramp kept closed, although left as an emergency exit from the tunnel.

That has infuriated residents and business groups from Karangahape Rd to Herne Bay, through which extra traffic now reaches the motorway along streets which they say were not designed for such heavy volumes.

They have won backing from Auckland Council's transport committee and the Automobile Association, which says the agency's reasoning for keeping the ramp closed during the review is nonsense.

Submissions have closed, but the agency plans to call for more when it publishes review findings next month.